Category Archives: Personal

Definitely not the first word that someone on a graduate student budget thinks. But with the recent events in my home state of New Jersey, donating was something that I not only wanted to do, but I felt obligated to do. Over the past week I have had friends send me pictures and tell stories of the destruction. I have friends all over the state, thanks to Rutgers, and it is hard to find anyone unaffected. I have friends who have beach houses lost, cars destroyed, and ongoing loss of power. It seems that now more than ever, the great state of New Jersey needs my help.Donating was easy. I have been planning on donating for a while but never seemed to actually pick up the card and do it. Today, as I was in Walgreen’s, I was prompted by the credit card machine to donate money to the Red Cross for hurricane Sandy relief. I’m assuming that Walgreen’s does not keep any percentage of my donation, but that’s not the point. The point is that people out there need help. It is easy to say that others will donate or that the states will find money somewhere, but the truth is that every dollar from every person counts. Red Cross is a great organization and I have faith that my money will be put to good use.

If you want to also donate, I urge you to give what you can at www.redcross.org. Every dollar counts. For those not looking to donate, consider buying some products where proceeds go to hurricane relief, such as Jetty’s Hurricane Sandy Relief T-Shirt. Jetty is a New Jersey based clothing company that is making great efforts to help raise money to rebuild the shore towns New Jersey residents have loved for so long.

I understand if people may not want to help for this particular cause, but regardless of who you are, everyone has something they care about. I challenge you to donate anything: time, money, clothing, food, to a cause that you believe in. There are people out there who need your help.

Seattle and New Jersey are not very close. In fact, according to Google, if I were to drive home the most direct route of 2,834 miles, it would take 46 hours. Seeing as many of my friends still live in the state commonly nicknamed “the dirty jerz”, and I have no plans to return for quite sometime, keeping in touch is a major priority of mine. Lucky for us frugal folk, keeping in touch no longer requires a run to the payphone or spending the cents on stamps.

Some buds coming in 2nd place at Bar Trivia

So far in Seattle, I have found keeping touch with my friends quite easy, even without a Facebook. It may feel overwhelming for anyone moving far away, distancing themselves from their friends, but you’ll have to quickly get over the fact you won’t be able to physically be with them. That does not mean you aren’t part of their lives, you just have taken on a different role! There are alternative though, ranging from one to one video chats to group messages. Here’s how I have been managing :

If you go on Facebook you won’t find me. Something I haven’t been able to say for 4 years. Something that goes against common practice for someone my age. I have been toying with the decision to delete my Facebook for quite some time, but being a digital media student it has been hard to let go. Last Sunday I decided to pull the trigger and delete my Facebook.

I found myself spending too much time on Facebook. If I was on my computer or phone, I had to check it. It turned into an impulsive habit. If I were reading an article for class, or writing a paper, I would periodically have to check my Facebook. I knew it wasn’t good, but it was hard to control myself when it was just a click away. I needed to change that.

The first day I deleted my Facebook was tough. I felt disconnected. Every time I opened my browser, I caught myself in the middle of going to Facebook. It is a feeling of disconnect that overwhelms. Now, after a week I feel good about my decision. I have seen my friend check his on my computer and did not feel any urges to reactivate my own.

I must say, however, I do feel disconnected from some friends and activities that I know are planned online. Especially for my graduate program, there are many advantages of Facebook, where it is used as a platform to reach people for planning events, connecting to employers, and getting work done. I think after a long detox, I will be able to reactivate my account and feel less connected. For now, I am going to continue to live without and stay focused.

If anyone were thinking of doing something similar, I would recommend it. I feel good not always checking my Facebook to read the torpid statuses. If and when I do reactivate my account, I will be downsizing my friend’s list to less than 100.